“When you affect the state of California, that has vital heft on the federal degree, too,” British Consul Basic Tammy Sandhu instructed Playbook throughout an interview on a fall night at her workplace in a excessive rise off San Francisco’s Market Road. “What we acknowledge is which you could really obtain loads — typically extra — on the state degree.”
Moments later, Sandhu walked briskly down the corridor to host a reception for
Matt Clifford, a prime synthetic intelligence adviser to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The occasion drew native tech executives and elected officers, together with San Francisco Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and Ahsha Safaí and advisers to state Sen. Scott Wiener. Clifford, who was on the town to tour Synthetic Intelligence labs, mingled with the group as they sipped California wines and snacked on appetizers in a convention room adorned with British flags.
Clifford, coincidentally, flew into city on the identical day that Gov. Gavin Newsom
signed an govt order outlining California’s method to shaping the secure growth of AI. He’s considered one of a number of U.Ok. cabinet-level officers who’ve visited San Francisco in current months, together with Commerce Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Secretary of State for Protection Grant Shapps.
What they’re watching: The UK has beefed up its presence in lots of components of the world since leaving the European Union, because the nation is not represented by EU diplomats. In California, it’s trying to construct relationships with state leaders and assist form laws in areas like synthetic intelligence, knowledge privateness and electrical autos.
Clifford, a tech govt, has harassed the necessity to develop security guidelines for AI that don’t stifle innovation. Staffers from the consulate have lately met with Wiener’s workplace to debate a invoice he’s carrying to curb security dangers in AI growth.
However the position of a overseas diplomat is usually not like that of others on the state Capitol. British envoys don’t sometimes assist or oppose laws and as an alternative give attention to sharing technical experience that might make it simpler for corporations to adjust to the principles in each international locations, mentioned Christopher Cambises, the U.Ok. consul’s head of political affairs in Sacramento. They’re intermediaries making an attempt to make sure that the principles play effectively with industries on either side of the Atlantic.
Shared sensibilities: Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a former U.S. ambassador to Hungary, famous the EU, Singapore, Eire and Italy are additionally sending extra diplomats to California, which has been more than pleased to obtain them.
4 days after she and Newsom had been sworn into workplace in 2019, Kounalakis mentioned, the governor referred to as and requested her to steer an effort to increase California’s worldwide outreach. Many countries have been receptive, she mentioned, perceiving California as a secure accomplice amid dysfunction in Washington, and higher aligned on points like local weather change and girls’s rights.
“Our overseas companions are deeply involved
about Trumpism, and it’s clear California is nowhere close to taking place that path,” Kounalakis mentioned.
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